Legal Aid drops attorneys, clients amid budget cuts

Thursday

Susan stood before a Bucks County judge in Doylestown, but all thoughts were with her children back home in Bensalem.

In her arms, Susan held a hastily prepared legal petition for temporary protection from abuse. She wasn’t sure what to say or just how to describe the brutal sexual violence she had endured at home.

Susan — not her real name — said she tried to hide her home situation from friends and neighbors as long as she could.

The court process was unfamiliar and the 26-page petition was complex. But she sought help from the legal system because she believed she was in a life or death situation.

“I was going to die,” Susan said. “And, when you’re in that position, you’re not thinking about the court and the law. You’re thinking about your own safety. You’re thinking about the safety of your kids.”

While Susan had a lawyer helping her at no cost, more victims of domestic abuse are wading into the civil courts alone because of cuts to free legal services in Bucks and Montgomery counties.

“We’ve had to be more discriminating in the people we can help,” said Elizabeth Wood Fritsch, co-executive director for the organization. Legal Aid has put a priority on protection from abuse and child custody cases, she said.

With offices in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties, Legal Aid aims to help cash-strapped residents wade through civil cases involving everything from debt protection and eviction to benefits for the elderly and unemployment compensation.

But Legal Aid’s annual funding, which comes from myriad sources, can also vary greatly, depending on economic conditions such as the interest accumulated on certain bank accounts, including Pennsylvania’s Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts program.

In 1996, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court established the mandatory program to draw money from accounts held by licensed attorneys in the state. When those attorneys take on new cases, it’s often on the condition of a monetary retainer, which sits in a bank collecting interest.

A board appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court distributes that interest income to nonprofit organizations, clinical and internship programs run by law schools and justice projects.

With high interest rates offered by banks in 2008, funding from legal trust accounts peaked at nearly $22 million, state records show. In 2012, those accounts yielded less than $15 million for legal aid services, according to the commonwealth.

In tougher economic times, there’s also less money for cash-strapped clients “and with the financial constraints of the day, many people may not be seeking to leave a bad marriage or fight battles in court because they simply cannot afford it,” Fritsch said.

The Bucks County Bar Association said it has stepped up with free legal advice and support from about 300 to 400 attorneys in the region. But some who need help just can’t get it, said Judith Algeo, chairwoman of the bar’s pro bono committee.

“The Bucks County Bar is rising to the challenge in helping Legal Aid, but the likelihood is high that some who need help just won’t get it because you’ve only got so many lawyers,” Algeo added. “Their staff is handling an astronomical caseload at this point.”

For Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the annual caseload fell from 1,696 to 1,408 new clients in 12 months, officials said. Statewide, Pennsylvania’s Legal Aid Network said it helped 86,220 clients in fiscal year 2013. That’s down 17 percent from the 104,124 clients helped in 2008.

Susan was one of those to get help this summer. The temporary protection from abuse order was upgraded to a permanent PFA order with the assistance of Legal Aid attorney Barbara Kaner.

Without Kaner’s assistance, Susan said she would likely have been killed.

“And there’s so many women like me,” she added. “There’s another woman going through this on my very own block.”

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